The Hanging Tree
by amichele
Summary: "Are you, are you, coming to the tree? They strung up a man they say who murdered three. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met at midnight in the hanging tree." {Kingdom AU} {Olicity} {One-Shot} {Revised Edition!}


**Hi everybody! This is my first Arrow fic, so I'm really excited for everyone to read it! It is only a one-shot, so this will be the only chapter, but I hope you'll all like it regardless of that. I recommend reading the lyrics to "The Hanging Tree," or looking it up on YouTube prior to reading this story, or else it won't make a lot of sense. If you can listen to a song while reading, go for it! I can't though, I get too distracted by the music XD But I am listening to it as I write, for inspiration. Thanks to TeamFandom for reading this before it was published, and Nerdy Doll for letting me know that the HTML code showed up in the text the first time this was published. I am so sorry about that guys, it didn't show up like that in my Document Manager!**

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><p>"Queen Felicity, come to the town square! Now," A girl who looked to be around twenty screamed as she ran into the ballroom. Queen Felicity was setting up a birthday ball for her husband, but stopped when she saw her sister-in-law run into the room.<p>

"Thea, what's wrong? What's in the square?" Queen Felicity questioned, frowning. Her husband should have been back from his outing by now, and Thea wouldn't be so frantic if this event in the square didn't have to do with something she cared about.

"The vigilante that's been running around and killing the rich has been caught and unmasked only minutes ago," the young woman, Thea, said as she started to cry. Felicity understood what was going on, and why Thea was so upset. Her husband was that vigilante. The penalty for the actions of the vigilante was death. No matter how hard Felicity and her husband had tried to change the laws so that he would be safe when he helped the town, they were shot down by everyone else who had a say in the law-making.

"Why did you not tell me who the vigilante was?" Thea asked quietly."We could have done something, we could have-"

"Thea, stop! We tried all we could, but nothing could be done! He made a promise to try his best to never be caught. It is not his fault," Felicity said, keeping a straight face as much as it hurt her to. Thea grabbed her arm and pulled her into the Royal Carriage that was ready and waiting.

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><p>Felicity didn't even realize that she was crying until she saw her husband standing next to the tree, often referred to by the townspeople as The Hanging Tree, which was a self-explanatory name. A large crowd was gathered around the tree, and Felicity had to fight to get to the front of it.<p>

"Oliver! No," Felicity screamed. She turned to the nearest guard and started to beg desperately for Oliver's life. "Please, you can't do this! He is the king! He is my husband!"

Thea had made her way to the front of the crowd as well, and was holding Felicity's hand. "Please, there has to be some way around this rule! He is the king of Starling! You cannot hang him," Thea yelled at the same guard Felicity had yelled at.

"As much as we love and respect King Oliver, he has broken a major law, and we cannot bend the rules just because of his rank. He has killed three people. I am sorry, your Highness," The guard said, remaining stoic.

"You're not sorry! You'd be letting him go if you were sorry! Don't you dare lie to me! Don't you dare," Felicity screamed, now beyond a rational state of mind. "Don't expect to have a job after this, any of you," she motioned to the other three guards standing next to Oliver. Thea had to hold her back at this point to make sure she didn't become guilty of murder as well.

"Felicity, we have lost this fight," Thea said calmly and quietly, not wanting to believe it. Felicity broke out of Thea's grasp and ran to Oliver, hugging him tightly.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Felicity repeated quietly, sobbing, "I've failed you, I've failed everyone, I've failed this city."

"You didn't, 'Licity. I love you," Oliver said, looking at Felicity. Felicity shuddered when she saw how bruised the area around his right eye was, and the dried blood by his nose. He must have put up a fight.

"I love you too, Ollie," Felicity choked out in between sobs. Oliver leaned in to kiss her cheek, but instead whispered two words in her ear.

"Flee, Felicity."

Felicity was dragged away by three of the guards, all the while kicking and screaming. Thea put her hands over Felicity's eyes when Oliver was put up on the chair and the noose was tied around his neck, not wanting her to watch. Felicity removed Thea's hands from her eyes. She wanted to see all she could of Oliver, even if it would break her heart.

The chair was taken away all too soon, and all too soon Oliver fell.

"Run," Oliver said, looking straight at Felicity, before the rope jerked and his eyes glazed over. This put Felicity in a frenzy. She thought she would be able to handle watching it, but clearly, she could not. Ina flash, she was up and trying to beat the guards to a pulp. She would have continued until they were dead, had she not heard Thea.

"This is not what he would have wanted. Please, Felicity, stop," Thea advised as she tried to approach her sister-in-law.

"He told me to run," Felicity whispered, stepping away from the guards. Thea hugged Felicity, wiping away her own tears. She had lost her brother, but she knew she had to be strong for Felicity.

"I think we should go. It is unnerving to be here after what just happened," Thea said, leading Felicity back to the carriage and helping her in. "I'll organize a funeral for him, you won't have to do it."

"He didn't deserve to die," Felicity sobbed, "he was just helping."

Thea pulled Felicity into a tight hug, partly to comfort her, and partly to shield her view of Oliver's body, which was gently swaying in the breeze.

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><p>It was late at night when Felicity thought of what Oliver had said.<p>

_"Flee, Felicity." "Run." _

Felicity got out of bed and changed quickly into her plainclothes. Oliver's birthday ball had been canceled as soon as her and Thea had arrived back at the castle. No one would be celebrating anything in this kingdom for a long while, it seemed.

Felicity left the castle quietly and made her way to the town square, all the while not thinking about anyone but Oliver.

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><p>Upon reaching the square, Felicity discovered that Oliver's body had been taken away, but there was a new rope and another chair, ready and waiting to claim another life. Felicity approached the chair and stood up on it. She grabbed the noose and examined it in the dim light.<p>

She couldn't see a lot, but what she did see could be summed up in one word: Hope.

She put the noose around her neck, and as she kicked the chair out from underneath her, she heard the midnight bells chime.

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><p><strong>So, did you guys like it? I know, I know, what a morbid way to introduce myself to the Arrow fandom. But I really do hope that you all liked it. Let me know in the reviews if you'd like me to write more stories for Arrow, or if you enjoyed this story. Thanks so much guys!<strong>


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